EdTech Roundup: OER, Mobile Learning and E-Textbooks

by Sarah CargillAugust 15, 2011

This week’s SmartTech Roundup includes recent developments in OER, reports for educational technology and digital learning K-12 classrooms, buzz around Mobile Learning Devices in schools, new delivery methods of e-textbooks and a report for data privacy in districts.

Brazil Introduces OER Legislation

Brazil introduced new, federal legislation this month that support open education resources (OER) by making government-funded resources more widely available and distributed. This law could have implications north of the border; a similar law in Florida could restrict FLVS from licensing it’s content.   Read the full article “Brazil introduces OER into federal legislation and adopts local government policy” on Creative Commons.

K-20 Edtech Progress Slows

The Software Industry and Information Association‘s (SIIA) 2011 Vision K-20 survey reported a decline in progress toward education technology goals in 2011 compared to previous years. However, Keeping Pace and Ambient Insight show rapid growth in online learning despite limited improvement in student access. View the full article “Schools Making Less Progress on Ed. Tech. Goals” on Education Week.

Digital Learning Now! to Issue State Report Cards

Digital Learning Now! will issues its State Report Cards, evaluating state’s implementation of their legislation around students’ access to digital learning, October 13, 2011. Click here to learn more about Digital Learning Now! and its 10 elements of digital learning.

Mobile Learning Buzzes in Classrooms

The Mobile Native, a blog about learning and teaching with mobile devices, posted an article this week about the definition, pedagogy and implementation of “mobile learning.” Saint Marys City Schools in Ohio are already implementing smart phones school wide as educational tools to provide students with Internet access, word processing and more. Blogger Scott Newcomb says the disruptive technology has had a positive impact on students’ learning. Read the full article “Powering Up in the Classroom” on the blog, The Mobile Native.

Bryan Setser published an article this week on “Managing the Mobile Learner” that discusses the increasing need for the integration of mobile learning devices in the classroom.

MindShift reported this month that results from Project K-Nect and pilot program based out of North Carolina show mobile devices engage low-income and at-risk students in math learning and other curricular areas. Read the full article “Mobile Learning Proves to Benefit At-Risk Students” on MindShift.

Tech Start-Ups Focus on E-Textbooks

The Street reported this week that tech start-ups are capitalizing on electronic textbooks for the iPad. Read the full article “Tech Start-Ups Board E-Textbook Wave” on The Street.

EdNet Insight reported this week that Kno delivered the world’s largest selection of electronic textbooks to Facebook, giving 19 million students access to books and class materials. Read the article “Kno Brings Textbooks to Facebook” to learn more.

Mtelegence Corp. to Develop Readorium

EdNet Insight also reported that Mtelegence Corporation this week received a Phase II SBIR contract from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to develop Readorium, a web-based software solution to help middle school students comprehend non-fiction text in the area of science. Read “Promising Reading Comprehension Software Receives Funding from the U.S. DoE” for more information.

While coordinated with IES, it’s still frustrating that USED won’t engage the private sector on R&D and relies on the tiny Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) allocation for education.

CoSN Release: Data Privacy in Age of Sharing

CoSN released a report titled “Whose Data Is It Anyway? Public and Private Date in the Age of Sharing” outlining data sharing policies that should be enforced by districts to properly share and protect data. The report is only available to members. Read the press release “CTOs Discuss Public and Private Date in the Age of Sharing” for more information.

eReaders to Incorporate Social Reading

Andrew Losowsky, the new Books Editor at the Huffington Post, comments on the evolution of publishing today as well as the future of e-textbooks due to social media and the social environment in a recent video interview on TechCrunch.  Andrew said, “eReaders put text into digital format but they don’t allow the reader to interact with the story.” He predicts that social reading will grow in importance and change how stories are written and read.  Andrew talks about ‘time stamping’ blog posts to avoid revisions that make comments irrelevant (and it’s interesting to note that HuffPo no longer allows bloggers to modify posts after posting).  Andrew also predicts that, “Books will get better but there will be fewer of them.”